Hyderabad, Feb 3 : A man from Maharashtra killed one of his three children to overcome the two-child norm to contest the upcoming Panchayat elections in that state.

Pandurang Kondmangale, a resident of Kerur village in Mukhed taluka of Maharashtraâ??s Nanded district, pushed her six-year-old daughter into a canal in Telanganaâ??s Nizamabad district.

Nizamabad Police on Monday announced the arrest of Pandurang (28) and village sarpanch Ganesh Ramachandra Shinde.

Nizamabad Police Commissioner P. Sai Chaitanya told media persons that the body of a girl was found in the Nizam Sagar canal in Yedapally a few days ago. The investigation led to her identification as Prachi (6), a resident of Kerur village in neighbouring Nanded district of Maharashtra.

Police picked up her father for questioning. He tried to mislead the police by stating that she was undergoing treatment at a health centre. When grilled by the investigating officer, he confessed to killing the child.

What he revealed during the questioning was shocking for everyone. Pandurang, who runs a barber shop in his village, was keen to contest the upcoming Panchayat elections. As he had a three-year-old boy and twin girls aged six, he was ineligible to contest in view of the two-child norm for candidates contesting local body polls in Maharashtra.

He consulted his friend and current sarpanch of the village, Ganesh Shinde how to overcome the norm. They conspired to get rid of one of his children, Prachi, the elder of the twins.

According to police, they initially considered putting Prachi up for adoption. But that would not have served the purpose because she would still be registered as his child in the birth certificate.

Pandurang also thought of abandoning the child, but was worried about the consequences in the event of her return. They then conspired to kill the child and make it seem like an accident.

As Nizamabad district is only a few kilometres away from his village, Pandurang took Prachi on a motorcycle to the Nizam Sagar canal. He pushed her into the canal and fled. Some villagers who were working in the field nearby heard something plunge into the water and rushed there to find the girlâ??s lifeless body floating in the canal. They alerted the police, which launched an investigation.

The girlâ??s pictures were circulated widely on social media. Someone from the Maharashtra village identified Prachi when they saw her photo as the display picture on the WhatsApp number of one of the police personnel.

A police team reached the village and began an investigation, which led to the arrest of Pandurang and the sarpanch.

/IANS